Well, since we have a game day thread up tomorrow and not much to talk about today, I figured I’d crack the whip on Steve-O to get a Monday Morning Standings post up on a monday morning, for once. But he says he has to do work. I mean.. come on… work? At work? Really? Fine then. But credit to him for at least finding a picture.

So the top stories for the week:

NYLANDER’S CAREER IN EVEN MORE JEOPARDY

Michael Nylander injured a vertebrae in his neck in a game on Saturday after being hit from behind by Brendan Smith of the Grand Rapids Griffins. This for sure will end his season, and could even end his career. You hate to see this kind of stuff happen to anybody, so hopefully he will not have his career ended, but it doesn’t look good. More on the story on TSN.

PAVELEC SET TO RETURN

The Atlanta Thrashers have activated Ondrej Pavelec off injured reserve. As you may recall, Pavelec fainted in a game back on October 8th, and has been out of the line up since. Pavelec has been cleared to return, but will need a few practices, I’m sure, to get back into game shape. More on the story on TSN.

J.F. JACQUES GETTING CLOSER

In a recent interview, J.F. Jacques stated that he is getting closer to returning, although he still has some tension in his lower back. He figures around mid-November for a return, which seemed to jive with what Tom Renney figured as well. It definitely will be nice to have his physical presence back in the line up, but you have to wonder how long that back is going to hold up for a guy as physical as he is. He’s currently practicing without the no-contact jersey on.

RYPIEN SUSPENDED

For those of you living in a cave, Rick Rypien was suspended 6 games for his altercation with a fan in a game against the Wild on October 19th. He will be eligible to return to the lineup November 6th, when the Canucks face off against the Detroit Red Wings.

KYPREOS OFFERS HIS TAKE ON HALL

There seems to be a trending opinion of some blogger types and fans that we should send Hall down to junior to retain a year of entry-level status (and delay his RFA and UFA status). This is the big issue that people have… so it’s not an issue as to whether or not his skills would be better honed playing in junior than in the NHL.

This opinion that we should push his UFA year back a year isn’t one that I take (as nice as it would be to do), but it seems to be growing steam with a lot of fans and some of the more popular bloggers. Nick Kypreos offers his take on it, so go have a gander here. From what I’ve seen, the mainstream bloggers/media seem to be in favor of keeping Hall in the NHL – Dan Tencer, Jason Gregor, Robin Brownlee, Lowetide, and Ryan Rishaug being a few names in support of that opinion.

So, on we go to the standings, and some familiar territory here for the Oilers, who are in last place. But it should be noted too that they’ve played only 6 games whereas a lot of teams have played 9.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS

East

West

Team

GP

Pts

Team

GP

Pts

* – Tampa Bay

8

11

* – Nashville

8

13

* – Pittsburgh

9

11

* – Los Angeles

7

10

* – Toronto

7

9

* – Calgary

8

10

Washington

8

10

Detroit

7

11

NY Islanders

8

10

Chicago

10

11

NY Rangers

7

9

St Louis

7

10

Montreal

7

9

Dallas

7

10

Boston

6

8

Columbus

7

8

Carolina

7

8

Vancouver

8

8

Philadelphia

7

7

Colorado

8

8

Atlanta

8

7

Minnesota

7

7

Buffalo

9

7

San Jose

7

7

Florida

6

6

Anaheim

9

7

Ottawa

8

5

Phoenix

6

6

New Jersey

9

5

Edmonton

6

4

LEAGUE STANDINGS

NHL Overall

Team

GP

Pts

Nashville

8

13

Detroit

7

11

Tampa Bay

8

11

Pittsburgh

9

11

Chicago

10

11

St Louis

7

10

Los Angeles

7

10

Dallas

7

10

Calgary

8

10

Washington

8

10

NY Islanders

8

10

NY Rangers

7

9

Toronto

7

9

Montreal

7

9

Boston

6

8

Columbus

7

8

Carolina

7

8

Vancouver

8

8

Colorado

8

8

Minnesota

7

7

Philadelphia

7

7

San Jose

7

7

Atlanta

8

7

Buffalo

9

7

Anaheim

9

7

Florida

6

6

Phoenix

6

6

Ottawa

8

5

New Jersey

9

5

Edmonton

6

4

POTF Pools

Here is a quick update on the pools.

Foiled Again

HabOiler and Johnny Odangles remain #1 and #2 overall, respectively. Trogdor has jumped to #3 from #6. I’ve jumped up to #4 from 12th, and Steve-O bumped up a bit to #9.

Foiled Again Too

MrsGr8one currently holds the top spot. YDNAR drops a slot to #2. In 3rd is Steve-O. I sit at 7th after taking a hardy beating courtesy of gr8one.

The boys will be fine, they just need to get the systems up and running, both PK and PP. So far that and faceoffs have really only been our real weaknesses. Hall should stay up, once he gets goal #1 he’ll stop gripping his stick so tight and settle in to a routine. Even as bad as Saturday’s game got, I thought we had some very good energy, and had some notable plays went in other directions I doubt things would have went off the rails as badly as they did. We need to bury our chances, Horc needs to stop whiffing on one timers with a wide open net, and Khabbi needs to visualize that it is a bottle of vodka down there so he can stop it from getting through.

OK. I am wondering if i am completely blind or not. In response to the Hall debate, I believe him to be a non issue in any negative sense. His shifts were long, rediculously long sometimes, but that i figure is an old habit. Other than that i have been impressed with him since game 1. Clear point to me, is the 3 rookies are never the culprits for a negative shift.
Cogs line got more ice and created more chances vs SJ than in any other game but routinely the play died at Cogs. I only saw the play die poorly once with Hall. I wouldnt be surprised if half the turnovers vs SJ came off cogs stick.

What happened with our defence? I was convinced our defense wouldnt be screw ups this year. Didnt Whintey – Gilbert prove to be a great tandem? Regardless of how good Whitney – Gilbert is the pairing of SMid aand Foster makes far more sense than Whitney and Foster …to me (except for PP). Struds looked putrid and Vandermeer was the one who gave up on the game and his team in the 3rd by a doing the bone head bord softy to gags (which is nearly as bad as a POS suicide pass) for the 4-1 g and then took the retard penalty right after. I call him Douche now (not everyone has convenient double-meaning innitials like POS). gave up on the team with time left to at least try.

I guess my point is i havent been happy with the d combos all season. OUr defense is pretty worthless in its own zone – and i dont believe fault can be completely re-directed to puck support forwards who are in most cases doing good jobs (except cogs, at times brule). I also, as stated, dont believe any fault is to be directed at the kids who have been some of our stronger players. I also feel… (i have been a Hemsky and Gags basher in past because of them being poster boys and untouchables) … Hemsky and Gags are impressing me more than ever this year , especially Hemmer.
PEnner had a REAL tough game against SJ and Horcoff, as much as i defend him, he better f*n find a finishing touch for all the tap ins he gets handed to him on silver platters or i am jumping on the Horc hater wagon soon enough. Pathetic. Since he is rather ordinary in the draw this year he better find his hands.
Also what is with us not going into the box thru pass or skating, on the pp? if you get it in there shooting percentage goes way up and the oilers got lots of looks in PPs to get entry to centre of box. It escapes me as to why you see that and not instantly rocket a pass in there. (Horc and Gags resisted passing into the box vs SJ a few times and killed PPs). Get Horcs off the PP is what i believe has to happen. he had his chance for redemption.

This year is going as i thought it would so i am definently not upset. Infact i have been more than impressed with our 3 rookies + peckham, Hemsky and Gags. I also am feeling game footage support for my pre-camp evaluation that cogs, Struds and Vandermeer could have been internally upgraded. No dissapointment here other than the fact that a young team cant be losing because of its vets… which i believe is the case here.

does anyone know if the game in calgary will be on tv? doesnt show anything.
Favre has bad taste…extremely bad taste. He must be going thru midlife crisis where you only look at breast size?

NYlander should be thankful he is pussy whipped and didnt sign in edmonton. Now he got to be a disaster and ruin his namesake in a town that didnt know who he was and become a never-was. Infact i even forget who he was. seriously i cant even remember what he ever did or accomplished. MY memory is only used for people who are worth knowing. BTW hows my boy Horton doing? mhmmm

otto: I know Florida oranges are popular, but you’re not suppose to shove them in your chest.

Saved by the buoyancy of citrus.

M&O: Yeah, I didn’t look back at your lineups, but I saw todays and it was totally empty, and then I looked a couple of days ahead and it was still pretty scattered. BTW, how did you manage to have your whole roster benched and why? lol…just curious!

and OIB: It’s “ridiculous”…I thought you were a lawyer? I mean, I know it’s just an internet website, and I’m certainly no proper English spelling/grammar guru, but I’ve worked for a major law firm and your writings just don’t come off as being very attorney-esque.

lol, i for one dont worry about internet typing. my fingers go and i dont look. its not like i care or would waste time reflecting on someones worthless internet spelling/grammar in blogs and other time wasters. You may notice most people who dont care and are on the internet as an after thought and dont care about it at all may miss entire letters and fumble an extra letter in. lol. good to have goals though, i guess.
thumbs up dude you totally got me. To me this is only worth my time as far less proportionally improtant to the other 5 windows i have open and the life going on around me.

I only dress players who are playing on that day and today I only had one player who was playing in a game. //////// I never go farther then one day in advance. I do it that way to make it easier on my eyes I guess. This is my first time in a hockey pool and I am still trying to get the hang of it. I did forget to make my picks today though.

oilinblood: lol, i for one dont worry about internet typing. my fingers go and i dont look. its not like i care or would waste time reflecting on someones worthless internet spelling/grammar in blogs and other time wasters. You may notice most people who dont care and are on the internet as an after thought and dont care about it at all may miss entire letters and fumble an extra letter in.lol. good to have goals though, i guess.
thumbs up dude you totally got me. To me this is only worth my time as far less proportionally improtant to the other 5 windows i have open and the life going on around me.

yeah…uh huh, and apparently you have a case of paranoia too, I wasn’t trying to “get you”. Just was curious since the lawyers that I know have exceptional attention to detail, and pride of ownership, even if it is just on the interwebz. But that’s cool, I clearly got under your skin, and wasn’t even trying, you 5 window open, life orb owning, multi-tasking machine you!

Pretty defensive response by someone who supposedly cares so little.

And, btw, “ridiculous” wasn’t a typo though, you misspelled it a few times, the same way. Thanks for ruining my day, my internet correction services had been going so well up to that point! lol

MetalOil: I only dress players who are playing on that day and today I only had one player who was playing in a game. //////// I never go farther then one day in advance. I do it that way to make it easier on my eyes I guess. This is my first time in a hockey pool and I am still trying to get the hang of it. I did forget to make my picks today though.

gotcha man…If you want some advice though, I’d probably recommend doing a week at a time…or at least a few days in advance at a time. Now that you are likely getting the hang of it, it really only does take a few minutes to do a week, and I find once it’s done, it’s done…no more worries until the next week, but if you just do a day at a time, it starts feeling like a chore, and is easily forgotten.

Anyways, continued luck in the pool, and if you, or anyone else has any questions, please let me know!!

rack …whats going on with our defense? Nevermind that Whit made Gilbert better, why wouldnt you put a smid defender with Foster? Foster isnt exactly a great Dman and i figured it made sense that Smid would immediately line up with Foster to cover for the latters lackings.

Your opinion is very welcomed. Infact most of my posts are more directed at you and chucker to ask for your inpuyt.

Well they had Smid and Foster together for a bit and then split them up. Not sure why. Best i can figure is because Foster is a defensive liability. Whitney is a pretty solid d-man most nights, and Renney probably figured he could cover for him. I personally would just put them back together (Whitney/Gilbert, Smid/Foster), if not just for the sake of getting the most out of Gilbert. To be honest, I haven’t been impressed by Foster yet. He does have a pretty good shot, but unless he’s scoring like mad, it’s not going to make up for the number of 2-on-1’s he’ll likely give up pinching in.

Racki: Well they had Smid and Foster together for a bit and then split them up. Not sure why. Best i can figure is because Foster is a defensive liability. Whitney is a pretty solid d-man most nights, and Renney probably figured he could cover for him. I personally would just put them back together (Whitney/Gilbert, Smid/Foster), if not just for the sake of getting the most out of Gilbert. To be honest, I haven’t been impressed by Foster yet. He does have a pretty good shot, but unless he’s scoring like mad, it’s not going to make up for the number of 2-on-1′s he’ll likely give up pinching in.

yeah im beginning to wonder how much Foster had to do with Minnies poor d numbers. Whitney has been making some bonehead choices too, although im certainly not questioning his abilities.
What about the last d tandem? Struds and Douche dont seem to be better than Petiot and Pecks.?
Doesnt it seem like its the vets letting us down and not the rooks? Horcs better get his eyes checked too. I think he is going blind.

I thought people were pretty crazy when they were getting excited about Vandermeer as being our shutdown d-man (“uhm.. have you seen him play?”). Myself though, I figured he would have been a lot more physical. Right now, I can’t say I’ve been impressed at all. But I typically try not to be too critical this early in the season.. some guys take a while to get into gear. But I never really thought of Vandermeer as a very defensive d-man. Lacking offensive ability doesn’t make you a shutdown d-man. He could be worse, I suppose. Hopefully Peckham will be back soon, as he had a helluva game against Minnesota.

Petiot seemed to be getting doing the trick… he seemed to be a pretty K.I.S.S. kind of defencemen. But sometimes we fall in love with the strangest of players too, so it might have just been a case of “saw him good”, since the Oil brass didn’t seem to care TOO much for him.

I think the Oil are going to have to figure a few things out sooner than later, such as the goaltending situation, and what to do on D, cause the current crop of D is pretty scary in their own end from top to bottom, save for maybe Smid.

i have faith in the top 4 even though, like you, i really question fosters abilitys. I think Vandermeer made sense at the time, but as soon as we managed to sign UFAs FOster for his RH shot, and MacI, Belle for tough options… it made Douche look like a waste of coin at 2.2 or whatev.

Think back to Steven Stamkos. His early struggles in his rookie year were the source of much debate and contributed to the firing of head coach Barry Melrose for the way he criticized and stopped playing the top pick. Stamkos was struggling to find consistency in his game and was prone to making mistakes, but needed to keep playing at the NHL level to develop as a player. The debate over sending him back to junior was heated. But ultimately, he benefited from staying put and fighting through his early setbacks and learning from his mistakes.

I struggled throughout the early part of the season and had a less than spectacular first year. At times, it was demoralizing and frustrating – almost to the point of ruining my confidence. But having to work through it and survive, it ended up being a huge character-building year for me. It taught me how hard I needed to compete to play in the NHL, how to prepare each day to be a pro and how important it was to have confidence in yourself.

Having a tough first year didn’t ruin me. In many ways, it taught me to respect the game even more and learn how hard you have to work to succeed.

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